Join the Movement!
Join the Movement!
More than 458,000 Californians with developmental disabilities live in California; they are our neighbors, classmates, coworkers, family and friends. However, their support structure has been grossly underfunded for more than two decades. Direct support staff are quitting the field or working multiple jobs due to low wages, essential programs are closing throughout the state, there is a critical shortage of accessible and affordable housing for adults with disabilities, the unemployment rate continues to grow, and individuals are forced to live with inadequate supports or with no supports at all. The COVID-19 pandemic has exasperated the challenges and put this population and their support system at high risk.
Governor Gavin Newsom has proposed to delay a $1 billion investment in critical supports and services for Californians with developmental disabilities. Our community has endured underfunding for decades. It weakened the direct support workforce, making it harder for people with disabilities and their families to access reliable services. State leaders know how urgent it is to stabilize the disability services system. That’s why they planned a funding increase this year. The impact of delaying this desperately needed funding will be nothing short of a cut to services.
In fact, it is one of the LARGEST proposed delays or cuts in the Governor’s 2024-25 state budget. This is unacceptable and will be tragic to safety net services! This setback sends a message that the promise of the Lanterman Act – made to 458,000 Californians with disabilities and their families – is not a priority to the state.
Your heroic advocacy efforts in 2022 resulted in overwhelming bi-partisan support from our Senators and Assemblymembers to ensure services through regional centers are more adequately funded by July 1, 2024. Now, the Governor wants to delay that funding!
Keeping the promised funding implemented THIS YEAR would:
Once again, we need ALL OF YOU – individuals with developmental disabilities, their families, support staff, service providers, regional centers and advocates – to TAKE ACTION!
Individuals with developmental disabilities and their families are receiving only a fraction of their authorized services or going without services altogether due to critical staffing shortages. Waitlists for housing and other programs continue to grow.
Join the disability community in urging the Legislature to reject the Governor’s proposal delaying $1 billion for the disability community, and make the investment on July 1, 2024, AS PROMISED. It can’t wait!
Let’s ensure the 458,000 Californians and their families are protected and not living in a state of crisis.
Together, we can put people with disabilities on a path to thrive THIS YEAR! Californians with disabilities and the professionals who serve them deserve a chance to live full and equitable lives. Taking this action NOW can ensure access to the quality services that individuals with disabilities and their families rely on and deserve.
California must commit to these investments THIS YEAR to address the workforce crisis and ensure that Californians with disabilities can THRIVE and not just survive.
The Lanterman Coalition represents tens of thousands of stakeholders in California’s Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD) community. Our top priority is that each person receives the high quality, person-centered services and supports that they choose and that are the core promise of the Lanterman Act. Furthermore, we firmly believe that individuals from all backgrounds and all geographic regions should have equitable access to services to meet their unique needs and choices.
There are approximately 150,000 direct support professionals (DSP's) working in our state to support more than 458,000 Californian's with developmental disabilities succeed in every aspect of their lives. Low rates for services, set by the state, directly impact DSP wages. California's disability system is currently facing an acute staffing shortage. CLICK HERE to share your story with us about how this workforce crisis impacts your life, or of someone you care about with a disability.
The state has set rates for the services it is legally obligated to provide to people with IDD too low. We are being denied these vital services because of unfilled positions and high worker turnover.
Dolores Huerta and her grandchildren explain why disability rights are civil rights and why California's lawmakers must #KeepThePromise
"Our son, David, has autism and significant difficulties with language and needs 24-hour staff support. In the last 27 months David has had 10 different support staff. For obvious reasons, this is not an ideal situation, and recruiting for David can be challenging due to the difficulties of communicating with him. Given the low wage rate with little opportunity for advancement, finding a higher paying job is always a prime motivation for staff to move on. There is always uncertainty about when the situation will resolve, and uncertainty is difficult for David and the rest of our family. The reassurance that would come with improvements for our direct support staff and knowing that the system is stable is priceless."
- Betsy Katz, Mom and President of The Arc of California
"I receive a paycheck twice a month. I work 120 hours plus each pay period and I bring home only $1500 at the most, usually less than that after taxes. I can't even afford my own place. I even started driving for Lyft to make ends meet. I love my job I enjoy going to work every day but it's not enough to survive."
- Anonymous Direct Support Professional, Solano County
For two decades, the state is failing Californians with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), causing individuals and families to suffer without critical services and supports. Violating its legal requirement under the Lanterman Act, the state has chronically underfunded the community based organizations that provide services such as supported employment, independent living, family respite, and community integration. As a result, the workforce is leaving in masses - forced to leave the job they love because they struggle with poverty as a result of low wages - and programs are closing their doors. Instead of receiving the services they need to actively contribute to our communities, people are sitting at home without services and families are left abandoned by the state that promised to support them.
California's Lanterman Act passed in 1969. This law sought to end the long era of institutionalization by setting up the regional center system instead. This meant that people with I/DD could stay in their communities of origin instead of being removed to the segregated isolation of an institution. When this law passed state lawmakers promised to fund community based services and supports people with I/DD need to live full lives. Yet in recent years the state has failed to live up to its promise, leaving people with I/DD unsupported, isolated, and vulnerable.
Take two minutes to contact the Governor your elected officials to support the recommendations of The Lanterman Coalition to address the acute disability system workforce crisis! #TheFutureIncludesUs